Fortnite is the protagonist of a story that will cost a lot to Epic Games , precisely more than $500 million dollars.
The most famous battle royale in the world , which in the meantime has become an all-round brand with gadgets of all kinds , has always been the center of attention.
Just a few days ago there were those who sued Epic Games comparing Fortnite to heroin , with a proceeding that is underway.
And while the company had created some type of account to further protect data , especially of children, a fine comes in for that very reason.
As reported primarily by the official website of the government agency , the Federal Trade Commission has punished Epic Games, which will have to pay an exorbitant amount.
The company has in fact run into a double violation , for very serious situations especially considering the subjects involved.
Epic will pay a $275 million fine for violating the Children’s Privacy Act , change its default privacy settings, and pay $245 million in refunds for inducing users to make unwanted charges.
Lina M. Khan, chairman of the FTC , explained the details of the sanctions in the statement:
“As our complaints note, Epic used privacy-intrusive default settings and deceptive interfaces that misled Fortnite users, including teenagers and children. Protecting the public, and especially children, from invasions of online privacy and shady models is a top priority for the Commission, and these enforcement actions make it clear to businesses that the FTC is cracking down on these illegal practices.”
In detail, the privacy violations concern the failure to notify parents of the collection of data from minors, together with the default activation of voice chat for these same users.
With regard to irregularities on purchases, however, the FTC mainly underlines three crimes: use of deceptive paths to induce users to buy; billing of accounts without authorization; blocking the use of regularly purchased content.
Fortnite is therefore the latest target of the FTC which, just recently, also attacked Microsoft admitting that it wanted to block the now historic deal with Activision Blizzard.
In the meantime, however, Epic Games Store is continuing to provide free games : here are the latest.
